As part of its centennial celebrations, the U.S. Soccer Federation conducted a poll to determine the best players who ever suited up for the red, white and blue. The result was a star-studded collection that is worthy of honor, but falls short of the stated goal. Brad Friedel was the top vote getter at the goalkeeping position, with a backline of Steve Cherundolo, Eddie Pope, Marcelo Balboa and Carlos Bocanegra. The midfield consists of Claudio Reyna, Tab Ramos, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, while Brian McBride and Eric Wynalda were the voters' choices at the forward position. These are all great players who achieved much during their time on the national team. However, the list only covers the final quarter of the federation's century of existence. What of the first 75 years? Rather than celebrating the federation's centenary, it seems to show how shallow the roots really are. If Italy was selecting an All-Time Azzurri, would Facchetti or Maldini be so easily dismissed? Would Beckenbauer still be an automatic for Germany? Even though they played before the days of color television, would Di Stefano and Puskas get more respect from Real Madrid? Switching sports, in these days of LeBron and Kobe, is there still room for Magic, Bird or Wilt? How valid would an All-Time baseball team get if they ignored Ruth and Aaron? The results make it appear that the people in charge of soccer in this country, and especially those who have been given the responsibility to report on it have no depth of knowledge of the history of soccer in this country. That is understandable when the sport's Hall of Fame has been shuttered and shunted into an obscure warehouse in North Carolina. The federation is the guardian of its past, and it seems to h... ... middle of paper ... ...While it was hard to get the spotlight away from the likes of Beckenbauer, Chinaglia and Bogicevic - it was even harder to lead the U.S. to World Cup glory when there were only 24 tickets to the dance, rather than today's 32. Remember, CONCACAF was limited to only one berth until Spain 82, and just two until France 98. Would any of these modern U.S. stars seem as bright without seven straight World Cup appearances to hang their hats on? This is not to say that yesterday's forgotten heroes are necessarily better than today's stars. However, their performance in their respective eras deserves more respect for an honor that supposedly encompasses the entire history of the federation. If U.S. Soccer's goal with this poll was to honor its history, perhaps it should acknowledge and promote the fact that it has one, a deep one of which American soccer fans should be proud.
The athlete I chose is Natasha Watley. She is a professional softball player and the first African-American female to play on the USA softball team in the Olympics. She’s a former collegiate 4-time First Team All-American who played for the UCLA Bruins, the USA Softball Women’s National Team, and for the USSSA Pride. She helped the Bruins will multiple championships and also holds numerous records and one of the few players to bat at least .400 with 300 hits, 200 runs, and 100 stolen bases. She’s also the career hits leader in the National Pro Fast pitch. She won the gold medal in the 2004 summer Olympics and a silver in the Beijing Olympics. She was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.
...est Players: A Celebration of the 20th Century’s Best. St. Louis: The Sporting News Publishing Co., 1998.
In 1991 there was so little media interest in the event, almost no one even knew the United States had a team, and even less people knew that the United States won. Eight years later, “tickets sales reached 388,000,” more than triple the amount of sales in the 1995 Women’s World Cup (Longman). FIFA was depending on this World Cup to gain popularity, they needed more interest to spark people to play. If the United States had not won, it was predicted that not many in the suburban would not have much interest in soccer. Millions of young girls across the United States came to this event. After the World Cup it “will celebrate the explosive growth of soccer for women in the United States, where 7.5 million female players are registered, according to a recent survey by the Soccer Industry Council of America, a trade group. In suburbia, where the game flourishes, girls' soccer has become as popular as sport utility vehicles” (Longman). This World Cup team changed the perspective that soccer was only for males. “‘ We're fighting the myths and prejudices that women's soccer felt in the U.S. in the 70's,'' said Andrea Rodebaugh… 'That there are sports for boys and sports for girls and that soccer is not for girls, not feminine’” (Longman). This team changed the lives for many girls. The team gave little girls hope and faith they could make it in soccer. This team made them believe they could follow their passions.
does have downfalls in his reputation and his actions throughout the long term of his life, but he still changed the game of baseball and gave people hope while doing so. When all the fame, rush of the spotlight, youth, and the wild side of Babe ruth settled down, his great qualities and the good he did really started to shine through. He did fill the stands of baseball by giving people hope and thrill throughout the war time and Great Depression (Family). He set stunning records that would forever be remembered in the baseball community and in the United States in general. It requires a unique and special hero to continue to have the effect that Babe Ruth still has today. Babe Ruth does deserve to be recognized as one of the most influential people in
The final argument is who the greatest player is from 1910 to 1920. The better career STATS during this decade were produced by Ty Cobb. Overall he is the best baseball player in the years between 1900 and 1920. Not one other player can compare to Cobb and you can tell this from the numbers and numbers don’t lie.
Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi and, two Argentine greats who have amazed our football world with their
While the draw did no favors for the United States national team, there is a chance an American will be lifting the World Cup next summer in Brazil. And that might make many U.S. fans angry. While Jürgen Klinsmann will be trying to guide his side out of Group G, Giuseppe Rossi will be doing the same in Group D, but with Italy.
“He (Buck) was a blessing for all of us. I believe that people like Buck (O’Neil) and Rachel Robinson and Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa are angels that walk on earth to give us all a greater understanding of what it means to be human.” These timeless words were spoken by Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson about John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil. The great John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil was a baseball player for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League and the first African American baseball coach in the Major Leagues, but more importantly than that, he was an inspiration to society. Buck O’Neil deserves to be in the Historical Hall of Fame due to his voluminous accomplishments in his life, his permanent positive impact on society and his greatness throughout history.
...arez is an example of how the skill level of players and the game of soccer grew more intense year after year.
In the United States, major league professional soccer has attracted little interest from the fans. Either indoor or outdoor proved to be successful, even with stars coming from Europe and Latin America. American Soccer League was the longest running professional league in the United States soccer history, going from 1921 to 1984. The North American Soccer League only existed until 1985. Some of the worlds' greatest players competed in this league, such as Michael Platani and Giorgio Chinaglia.
He hit 600 home runs (5th most all time), won 10 gold gloves, and made 13 All Star Games. In almost 150 years baseball history, only the great Willie Mays can match Ken Griffey Jr. in these statistical categories. However, despite these extraordinary stats, Ken Griffey Jr. may be the ultimate “What Could Have Been” player. An incredibly promising career was derailed in the latter half by chronic injuries that robbed him of hundreds of games. If not for these injuries, Griffey was well on his way to becoming the Home Run King (Stark, 2010) and possibly the greatest player ever. Despite these setbacks, Griffey is still revered as one of the greatest and most popular MLB players ever. The savior of baseball in Seattle and the lone star to stay above the darkness of the steroid era, Griffey will go down in history as a legendary athlete.
Soccer was globalized when the FIFA World Cup was established in 1928. Being the single most watched sporting event in the world, the World Cup is a way to bring the world together in a delightful way. According to FIFA’s website, “It fulfills FIFA’s objectives to touch the world, develop the game, and build a better future through a variety of ways.” They also mention, “As of mid-2007, FIFA has grown to include 208 member associations, thus making it one of the biggest and certainly the most popular sports federation in the world” (“FIFA World Cup”). The World Cup has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when WWII stopped it from being held (“FIFA World Cup”). Countries compete against each other in these tournaments in a process of elimination until one country comes out on top and is titled champion.
In the world of sport, soccer and football with respect to demographic has had numerous controversies. Although both sport are known famously around the globe, for many years fans from both sides are known for asking, is American football same as soccer? What’s the time limit on both sports? What’s the game objective? Do they use the same ball? However they both have similarities and differences which I will be talking about in this essay.
Canada: Children’s Press, 1994. Owens, Thomas and Helmer, Diana Star. Soccer. Brookfield: Twenty-first Century. Books, a Division of the Millbrook Press, 2000.
April 2nd, 1940 marks the date of Croatia’s first international football match against Switzerland. Following World War I, the Croatian Football Federation joined FIFA as a representative of the Independent State of Croatia in 1939. The Croatian clubs performed well in the Yugoslav First League and the Yugoslav Cup over previous decades. Hajduk and Dinamo formed one half of the Big Four of Yugoslav football. In 1967, Zlatko Čajkovski of German club Bayern Munich became the only Croatian manager to win the ...